This Appeal Court ruling – reported here in The Guardian – scares the hell out of me. If this is called ‘care’ then show me the way to go home! I’m tired of what we now perceive as being a caring way to provide care.

Local councils have been given the green light by the courts to cut social care services to elderly and disabled people previously assessed by law as needing them.

In a test case involving care support for a woman who was one of Britain’s leading ballerinas, the appeal court ruled that Kensington and Chelsea council in west London acted lawfully and reasonably in withdrawing some services to save money.

The judgment could affect services to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable adults, including care at home, meals-on-wheels, escorted transport and places at day centres.

Luke Clements, professor of law at Cardiff University and a leading expert on care legislation, described the judgment as “chilling”. He said: “There are two problems with this approach: one, a narrow legal one and the other that it is an indictment of any society that lays claim to be civilised.”

We should take no comfort from this cost-cutting undignified uncaring careless care. If we do, then we have definitely lost any way to claim to be civilised.